Written by Colby Covalt<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In 1965, Frank Herbert authored one of the most iconic science fiction novels of all time, \u201cDune.\u201d Herbert\u2019s novel inspired numerous wildly successful books, movies and TV series. Good day, Harding, my name is Colby Covalt, and this is my review of Dennis Villeneuve\u2019s cinematic interpretation of \u201cDune,\u201d which came out last October. Villeneuve\u2019s film adaptation astonished casual viewers and long-time readers alike with his take on the classic novel. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cDune\u201d is a space epic focused on House Atreides, who is given authority over Arrakis, otherwise known as Dune, the home to the most valuable drug in the universe. Many would kill for such a drug, and now House Atreides is subject to deception on a Galactic scale. Herbert\u2019s Tolkien-level of detail in masterfully designing a universe creates quite the challenge for movie directors driven with the ambition to tackle such a project. David Lynch, John Harrison and Alejandro Jodorowsky tried, but each came up short. When I heard Villeneuve, director of magnificent movies like \u201cBlade Runner 2049\u201d and \u201cSicario,\u201d was splitting \u201cDune\u201d <\/em>into two parts, I was more than excited. Villeneuve not only lived up to my expectations, he crushed them. <\/p>\n\n\n\n One of Villeneuve\u2019s trademarks is the stunning cinematography he brings to his films. Each shot is a masterclass of directing, often by using a person or object as a reference to convey the grandeur of a separate article. This is evident in most of <\/em>\u201cDune.\u201d One of my favorite shots in the movie is when the colossal sandworm devours a spice harvester with Paul Atreides, son of Duke Leto and heir to House Atreides, looking on from an aircraft in the sky. Villeneuve creates fantastical landscapes that the reader envisions when reading the novel. Everything from the vast desolate nature of Arrakis, to a small room used for a three-second shot, has unparalleled depth. Villeneuve is able to make a film that is alien but feels quite realistic. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Side characters like the brainless, muscled-up Harkonnen Count Glossu Rabban and the jaded but caring Fremen Stilgar are brought to light by actors Dave Batista and Javier Bardem, respectively. The lead roles in Timothee Chalamet and Rebecca Ferguson\u2019s portrayals as Paul Atreides and Lady Jessica bring raw emotion to each part. A significant component for both characters is internal thought. Although we don\u2019t hear Paul and Jessica\u2019s thoughts, each character brings a level of nonverbal communication, displaying both Paul and Jessica’s introspection perfectly. <\/p>\n\n\n\n The most challenging aspect an adaptation must deal with is the amount of lore ensconced in the novel. The amount of information one must capture when moving \u201cDune\u201d from page to screen can be overwhelming, such as the long-stretching history and the constant wars throughout the story. Villeneuve, however, communicates the key elements expertly. The way Lady Jessica teaches Paul something called \u201cThe Voice,\u201d and the instant power and importance that The Voice possesses, is easily understood. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Despite the difficulty of converting \u201cDune\u201d from a novel to a theater screen, I consider Villeneuve\u2019s \u201cDune\u201d the ultimate big-screen adaptation. This movie feels incomplete because it is, but I look forward to \u201cDune: Part Two,\u201d which comes out Nov. 3, 2023, so we can see Villeneuve\u2019s film mastery continue.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Written by Colby Covalt In 1965, Frank Herbert authored one of the most iconic science fiction novels of all time, \u201cDune.\u201d Herbert\u2019s novel inspired numerous wildly successful books, movies and…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":15068,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-17939","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/thelink.harding.edu\/the-bison\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17939","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/thelink.harding.edu\/the-bison\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/thelink.harding.edu\/the-bison\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thelink.harding.edu\/the-bison\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/15068"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thelink.harding.edu\/the-bison\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=17939"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/thelink.harding.edu\/the-bison\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17939\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":17952,"href":"https:\/\/thelink.harding.edu\/the-bison\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17939\/revisions\/17952"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/thelink.harding.edu\/the-bison\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=17939"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thelink.harding.edu\/the-bison\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=17939"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thelink.harding.edu\/the-bison\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=17939"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}